World Cup 2010

[crackerjack]

van bommel has been disgraceful this world cup

there are 3 unnecessary words in that sentence

 

[crackerjack]

Spain £50 to win @9/2 =

 

[bandshell]

Not the best game of the tournament. Holland put in a shameful performance. Van Bommel is an idiot. Does he have no understanding of the rules whatsoever? De Jong's foul was disgraceful. He should have received a red for that "challenge" on Alonso.

Spain didn't play particularly well (admittedly, this was partly down to the Dutch) but certainly outplayed the Dutch. Bringing on Navas was a fantastic decision. He gave the Spanish some, much needed, pace and width as well as bringing more attacking play to the game.

Stekelenburg was the best Dutch player by far. He made some good saves. Casillas' save against Robben in that one on one situation was great too.

Lovely goal from Iniesta. He deserved it.

The best team won.

 

[luka]

i really enjoyed it. i thought the dutch were fantastic. they really made a fight of it. not easy to do when facing a truly brilliant team. the commentators here seemed to think holland had a moral obligation to lie down and let spain play beautfiful football. thats nonsense. i like to see a competition. spain were worthy winners but were made to fight for it and thats how it should be in a final. well done to both teams. i enjoyed every minute.

 

[samdiamond]

there are 3 unnecessary words in that sentence

noted

 

[paolo]

The best team won.

I concur

 

[crackerjack]

As a spectacle, it was gruesome, the ugliest of all World Cup finals, but, on a night when the good name of Dutch football was besmirched by a display of thuggery, justice was done with four minutes remaining in extra time as Andrés Iniesta secured a much-needed victory for the sport as well as a joyous Spanish nation.
Anti-football 0 Football 1. Some might take issue with that, saying that football was the loser, because both teams showed the worst aspects of their game and Howard Webb, the English referee, flourished his yellow card 14 times and the red card once, to John Heitinga in extra time after a second bookable offence.
However, had this final ended with anything but a Spain victory, the damage to the sport’s image might have been far greater.
Iniesta deserves more than the gratitude of a nation. Had Holland won, it would have been an insult to the game and, although it would not have felt that way to the orange-clad hordes at Soccer City, to the proud tradition of the nation that pioneered “total football” and produced players such as Cruyff, Neeskens, Gullit, Van Basten and Bergkamp.
Their defeats in previous finals, in 1974 and 1978, are mourned to this day, but this third loss should be celebrated since it denied Holland the peculiar feat of boasting the least loved of all world champions as well as the most loved of runners-up.
Bert van Marwijk, the Holland coach, appeared a little apologetic when he said that it was “not our style to commit horrible fouls”, but his team’s approach, led by Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, his clogs of war, seemed rather deliberate.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/international/article2639593.ece

 

[BareBones]

i really enjoyed it. i thought the dutch were fantastic. they really made a fight of it. not easy to do when facing a truly brilliant team. the commentators here seemed to think holland had a moral obligation to lie down and let spain play beautfiful football. thats nonsense. i like to see a competition. spain were worthy winners but were made to fight for it and thats how it should be in a final. well done to both teams. i enjoyed every minute.

I am in agreeance with you, but then i also think that flying kicks to the heart are maybe making a bit too much of a fight of it.

 

[baboon2004]

Iniesta was a worthy matchwinner. I still find Spain a bit yawnsome, but there's no doubt that a Dutch victory (even though I was cheering for it at the time) would have left a sour taste today.

 

[luka]

that looked pretty bad. maybe ive become inured to violence through 4 years of watching australian rugby league.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

De Jong should have been sent off, but then so should have Puyol.

No wonder that footballers dive all the time - if they don't, refs refuse to give the foul.

Was good to see Spain play more directly.

 

[crackerjack]

De Jong should have been sent off, but then so should have Puyol.

Possibly, though Puyol for a tiny tugback that made a chance into a half chance, De Jong for an act of wanton violence that would've landed him in jail if it had happened off the pitch. I don't like Spanish diving and playing up, but the Dutch were pure filth.

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[crackerjack]

.

Spain conceded only two goals in the tournament. When Italy did that in 2006, it was hailed as defensive geniuses. Fabio Cannavaro even won the Balón d'Or off the back of the success. According to the Castrol index, which combines a series of statistical measures to rank a player's performance, Sergio Ramos has the tournament's best ranking. In fact, Spain's back four are the tournament's top four. And that's despite the fact that in its approach Spain has not been a defensive side; as argued before the final, it has been a controlling one.

Even Holland's muscular, at times plain brutal approach did not -- in the end -- prevent Spain from adding the world title to its European one. In virtually every game it was confronted not by sides that sought to play but to prevent Spain from playing. In every game, Spain has sought goals. Without haste, without anxiety and without urgency, perhaps. But it has sought them. Spain might not have been quite as dazzling as some hoped, not quite as creative, not quite as much of a fantasy soccer team as some demanded, but it has -- in its own way -- dominated this World Cup.

Before the final, Jesús Navas had delivered more balls into the box than any other player at the tournament despite playing only 118 minutes, while Xavi had provided 25 goal scoring chances -- eight more than anyone else. Spain led in attacks -- more than 20 clear of No. 2 Germany and No. 3 Brazil. The Spanish ranked first in shots, solo runs and passes (more than 1,500 more, in fact), and they had the best pass-completion rate. No side averaged as many passes as Spain in 16 years.

Meanwhile, only Germany and Uruguay covered a greater distance and, before Sunday's war, which Spain largely handled impressively, only Korea had collected fewer cards.

In every game, Spain had more shots on target and more possession than its opponents -- including the opening-game defeat that could be written off as a freak result, with an 8-to-3 advantage in shots on goal and 63 percent of the ball. Only Chile had as many shots overall against Spain -- 9 each, but with fewer on target -- in the competition. Spain had 19 (10 on target) to Portugal's 9 (3); 16 (9) to Paraguay's 9 (4); and 13 (5) to Germany's 5 (2). In the final, Spain had 56 percent of possession and 18 shots to Holland's 13 ...

 

[routes]

i thought that generally the refs did an ok job at this world cup. most of these pundits go on as if they expect the ref to actually be watching the same pictures and multiple angles that they're seeing. it's just dumb.

also i thought, on balance, that ITV totally nailed the BBC.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Possibly, though Puyol for a tiny tugback that made a chance into a half chance, De Jong for an act of wanton violence that would've landed him in jail if it had happened off the pitch.

Yeah, the De Jong foul was horrendous. I can only assume that Webb didn't see it properly, or that he was over-keen to keep it 11 vs 11. There were a couple of other occasions when he seemed to have booked people using deduction only - well, there's someone writhing about there and lots of angry people here, so something must have happened...

 

[don_quixote]

De Jong should have been sent off, but then so should have Puyol.

No wonder that footballers dive all the time - if they don't, refs refuse to give the foul.

Was good to see Spain play more directly.

oh plz, robben was not thrown off balance by whatever 'pull' there was by puyol, nor did it stop a clear goalscoring opportunity. it was not a foul. robben should have just scored.

agree with the post that said itv were better. they were far far better in the studio. for the commentary, though weak on both sides, i can't stand the tydlesley fluff. all commentators do it nowadays; no-one seems to value the art of shutting the hell up in commentary nowadays. it's all about bloody them.

 

[crackerjack]

From today's Fiver Letters

"I was on a date last night and my companion asked me if I wanted to 'go Dutch' on a restaurant bill. So I raked my studs down her chest, harangued the maître d' and then left in tears" - Bill Chilton.

 

[Sick Boy]

What is it with World Cup finals and players executing kung-fu type attacks on opposing player's chest areas? Zidane's chest head-butt, De Jong's flying ninja kick to the chest - next World Cup I am hoping for a Mortal Kombat styled uppercut to the sternum that launches its victim fifteen feet into the air.

This time the ref won't even bother to issue a yellow card, he'll just bellow "FINISH HIM."

 

[don_quixote]

 

[baboon2004]

Dear God (I of course salute our new octopine overlords, or something).

Has the octopus dislodged the facepalm as the overriding internet meme? Someone has to have combined the two, surely.